Friday, September 25, 2020

Transformers Studio Series Leadfoot review

Did you seriously think I'd cover Devastator without taking a look at the final Wrecker??? LOL!!!!!!!! Anyways, Leadfoot carries over most of the same things I mentioned about the other two guys. He may have not done much, but I dug seeing him on screen, whether it's his banter with Roadbuster during the construction the Xanthium or him saying that he and the Autobots ain't going nowhere. Sadly, his return in Age of Extinction was brief and he didn't even get John DiMaggio's voice (instead he reused Robert Foxworth's reused Ratchet dialogue from when he was attacked by Cemetary Wind and Lockdown); sucks because I love Leadfoot the most, what with his blue visor, chunky design, and Target branding. While I like Target stores fine enough, I don't like that they're far away from where I live, as the ones I could access are either at Downtown or are at Indiana. Thankfully, Leadfoot didn't suffer from the same scalper scraps that would literally fight for the Skywarp and Thundercracker 2-pack the same way that people did for Popeyes Chicken Sandwiches. Now let's move on from an outdated meme and talk about the third and final Wrecker!


Here is Leadfoot's backdrop. Big surprise it's the same one Topspin and most of the Dark of the Moon Autobots in the line included so LET'S MOVE ON TO THE TOY ITSELF!!!!!!!


And here is Leadfoot in his vehicle mode! It's the same as the other two characters in terms of it being a NASCAR Chevy Impala Racecar, but as mentioned with Topspin, he's more than just a color swap because of how he's designed compared to the other two. That being said, his car mode certainly has more going on from the sides, whereas the middle part of it doesn't look too altered aside from the way the grill looks and how the Target logo is split. The weird part about the figure is how there's a gray panel that looks out of place, though you could say it's part of the robot mode in a way. I don't think I mentioned this yet, but while the Stealth Force gimmick is a pretty needless part of what is an otherwise awesome movie (that being Dark of the Moon), it makes sense for the Wreckers as they are the more trigger-happy Autobots ready to kick Decepticon ass.


Weirdly enough, he's a little light on Target sponsors for a toy that's based on Target itself. Sure, he has the NASCAR brand, and the 42 as well as the Ultra Wreckers details are neat, but I know he could use some references to Cottonelle, TUMS, Lysol, and an Autobot insignia. Those were the ones the Human Alliance one came with, and it'd be a neat callback in my opinion. I mean if Earthrise Wheeljack can have sponsors despite not really having them before, so can Leadfoot!


Here he is next to the other two Wreckers from the same line. I gotta say that it's so nice to FINALLY have official Wreckers that are not only in scale with one another, not only are in the same line, but are all relatively close to each other in terms of release. Seriously, before the Studio Series line was even a thing, all we had were Deluxes which had a non-armored Roadbuster and the lack of a US release for Leadfoot while the Human Alliance line had a Leadfoot who was not armored and no sign of Topspin anywhere! Sure, some would say that the Cyberverse line was the best way to complete the set, but believe me when I say that their small sizes and the fact that Topspin was both a shellformer and had no armored bits made the trio feel compromised. Thankfully, we have three Wreckers that all look good, and it's also nice to say that I own a version of Leadfoot.


Transformation is different from the other two guys, who had their vehicle mode hoods be the back of the legs, but Leadfoot changes things up by actually transforming as he normally would. The front becomes the chest, the sides of the vehicle mode become the arms, and the rear portion of the car becomes the legs. There are even hinges for the legs that further make him look squat. So...what is left to be said about the big tubby Autobot himself in his robot mode? I think he's the best-looking Wrecker of the trio, and he looks way better than the other versions of himself. Part of what makes him unique is his potbelly, which is made up from the front and makes him visually interesting from the other guys. At first, I thought that it could be a little more broken up, though there is a panel that lifs up and gives him a little more of the potbelly design. To his credit, he's actually screen accurate than the other Leadfoots we've gotten in the past. The Deluxe one was not an awful attempt, but it doesn't quite have that same level of proportion accuracy to the CG model thanks to his small head, wide shoulders, and weird chest proportions. And did anyone really like the Human Alliance one? It looks too ugly and doesn't even capture Leadfoot's physique quite well. Also, both had some ugly beige plastic.


The side view looks pretty good, and the back isn't too out of the norm. I will say that the feet are a little chunkier than what we normally have, but I think it works as once again, he's got a fairly unique design with proportions that need to be chunky for his design. Maybe some added paint would give him a better look, but he's still better than the other Leadfoots we've gotten. And his head sculpt is at the right size in contrast to his body; he certainly had a big head with a metal beard, shares, and I guess a bald spot to show his age, but part of me feels there should be some more silver paint thrown in for the cranium. Still, he's got a great head design that gives him that robo-NASCAR fan vibe.


Articulation for this guy is pretty good for a tubby robot. Head is on a ball-joint, shoulders move front and back as well as in and out, the biceps swivel, and the elbows bend. You could say that the wrists can curl in, but the hips move front and back as well as in and out, there are bicep swivels, and the knees bend. He has 6 accessories worth talking about, one of which is a shoulder cannon that has a 5mm hole, two of which are miniguns with ammunition molded on (these are for the forearms), and another two of which are missiles for his big gut. The former two types of accessories peg on with no problem, but the missiles suck at staying on in this mode and I don't know why there are space issues. His final accessory is Steeljaw, the off-screen but still cool bulldog of the Wreckers! He previously appeared in the Human Alliance version of the character, and while he may not have a tongue sticking out or can turn into a cannon, he's at least just as charming here as he was in the old set. Still weird how Leadfoot got his partner but ROTF Soundwave doesn't have Ravage and Barricade doesn't have Frenzy.


For a size comparison, here is Leadfoot next to who else but the other Wreckers of his team! And I've got to say, it's once again nice to have a set of Wreckers that are complete, but it's also nice to have a set of Wreckers who are close to each others' releases, have consistent engineering, and are all ready for action. Leadfoot is also shorter than the other two, which makes sense given his aforementioned design nowhere being as sleek as his allies.


Having all three Wreckers is pretty awesome in my opinion, and it's especially great to have them together either on display or when they're posed fighting. There may not be a Decepticon ship that was shot down, but they can always kill Crowbar before Optimus tells that the Decepticons will never leave Earth alone! As for Leadfoot himself, I think he's my favorite version of the character as well as the best Wrecker that we got in recent years. Thankfully, Hasbro doesn't do a terrible job with bringing this guy out and it makes me happy worthwhile. The only issues I have with the figure are the lack of paint in some areas and the tabs for the chest not being strong enough, but it's worthwhile to enjoy these guys nonetheless. I certainly recommend getting this guy, especially when your Target stores have him in-stock.


Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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